Chapter 17: It's Gab's birthday!
"...well this is fucked."
It was an awkward night, uncomfortable at most. The fact that Vignette had told everyone that it was Gabriel's birthday seemed to have given them a justification to get plastered. Beer cans, glass bottles and wine boxes were drunkenly strewn around the kotasu, where everyone was eating whatever they could. Little did Gabriel want to admit, it was slightly humorous watching five blind, drunk people fight over pieces of bread with Hensky watching in embarrassment. She, along with everyone else, somehow found a way to get the birthday girl gifts, which were on the floor next to where they were sitting.
They heard the sound of the door closing as well as the jingling of keys, and turned their bodies at the source of the noise.
"Gaobrel! Happy- *hic* burthday...!"
"There some sake left?," Gabriel asked.
"No drinking for you missy. You have things to do tomorrow."
"Vignette, Vignette, the voice of reason. Even though it's my birthday...?"
"How about I let you smoke instead? Just one. Mori brought cigars."
"Hey...I wanted to surprise her!"
Gabriel sighed in relief as she sat down and felt the heat of the kotasu, while Vignette was getting everything ready. Raphiel pulled out her lighter and lit the three candles on the chocolate cake, illuminating everyone's faces in a warm orange glow.
"Make a wish Gab. Or else."
"Y-You get scary when you're drunk, you know that?"
She ignored Alvarez's threat and blew out the candles, causing everyone to cheer half-heartedly. They seemed to be tired, yet keeping themselves awake for this special occasion.
"I know it's kind of lacklustre...," Vignette started, fidgeting with her fingers. "But we did the best we could. Happy birthday Gabriel."
She smiled in admiration at the purple-haired girl as everyone began to eat straight from the cake like savages.
"What are you talking about? I didn't even remember my own birthday. I'm surprised you did," Gabriel said.
"Want to open your present?"
Gabriel eyed the large rectangular bag behind Vignette. "Hmm...is it a pony?"
"Sorry to disappoint," she giggled, standing up to give the loli her gift. Vignette sat down next to her, and the bag was sitting on both their laps. She slowly opened it.
Gabriel laughed, holding the weapon in her hands to feel it's weight.
"I thought you were against me doing dangerous things?," Gabriel laughed, trying to hide her smile.
"Of course I am!," Vignette half-yelled. "But...but I know I can't stop you...so..."
The close-quarters battle rifle seemed like it was happy with its new owner. For too long had Gabriel used a standard issue M4 which was too heavy and too unwieldy for her smaller hands and arms.
"Cold hammer forged 10.3 inch barrel, flared magwell and a flash suppressor. But it's for defence only, you hear?"
"What's this cheesy quote written on the lower?," Gabriel giggled.
"D-D-Don't mind it! J-Just...wanted to make it special!"
"I love it. I love it. I love it," she repeated to herself.
The rifle was sandwiched between the two as they hugged, one more tightly then the other. Vignette blushed as she felt the warm air from Gabriel whispering in her ear, and she let go.
"Hey! O...O...Open ours too!," Mori yelled with a lit cigar in his hand. It seems as if he had opened her gift early.
All in all, the night flew by far too quickly, and it ended with a game of Uno which was more of a game of who would pass out last. Gabriel was sitting on the couch, cradling her rifle as Raphiel and Hensky carried each unconscious individual to their respective beds. She added Eun's gift, a new holographic sight, to the rifle alongside the suppressor and Japan sticker ripped from her old setup. She couldn't react fast enough to stop Vignette from taking a candid shot with her phone.
"You two are beautiful together," Vignette joked as she sat next to Gabriel. "When's the ceremony?"
"Ha frickin' ha. Show me the picture."
"I'm going to savour this smile. Once in a blue moon."
Vignette showed her the picture she just took.
"I...smile a lot...just so you know," Gabriel pouted, cleaning off dust from the barrel.
"Do you?"
"Y-Yeah."
"When?"
"Erm...well...today...you made my day today."
Vignette looked away blushing. She felt butterflies in her stomach.
"And...anytime I think of you I guess."
"Gab..."
Raphiel tied a knot on the garbage bag which was overflowing with tonight's remnants. With that being the last of the clean up, she could finally treat herself to a glass of whiskey and that book on composting she was reading. She let her hair down and began walking to her room, when she noticed Henksy staring at something intently.
"Anna?," Raphiel sighed. "What are you..."
She followed her eyes and felt her heart skip a beat. Gabriel was on top of Vignette, making out with her. Raphiel could hear pleasurable moans and sighs from them both, and like the Russian girl, couldn't take her eyes off the scene.
"An...na...s-stop looking," Raphiel stuttered, enraptured.
"They...don't seem to notice...," she replied.
"D-Doesn't matter!," Raphiel hushed, pushing Hensky away. "Violation of their privacy!"
"H-Hey! They wouldn't be making out on the couch if they didn't want us to look, now would they?"
"...w-well...I guess so..."
Vignette had now pushed Gabriel down on the soft couch, hungrily wanting more of her. She made soft 'mmms' as Gabriel hesitantly began to explore Vignette's warm body, following the contours of her arched back, and eventually resting on her rear.
They broke off from the kiss, panting as they stared deep into each other's eyes. After a while, Vignette noticed in her peripheral vision the two pairs of eyes staring at them, and immediately jumped off Gabriel to the other end of the couch.
She covered her lips in embarrassment as Raphiel dragged Hensky into their shared room, desperately trying not to make eye contact with them. All that was heard was the ticks from the clock as the two came down from cloud nine.
"I...I should get to bed," Gabriel whispered, looking away from Vignette. "Job interview tomorrow..."
"Wait. Gab."
"...Vign?"
"What...just happened. I-I-I really enjoyed that. I...I...oh God...my stomach..."
"What, you expected worse? I-I'm offended."
Gabriel tried to sound as normal as possible, with her usual sarcastic fire, but her words only came out sounding shaky and nervous.
"You...YOU IDIOT!," Vignette cried, curling up in a ball. "...idiot...why'd you have to do that...why..."
"...sorry? I thought you enjoyed that."
Vignette sighed. "Yes...yes of course I did. It was incredible you moron."
"Then why...?"
"Because now it'll...hurt a lot more if...if...if-"
Gabriel locked lips with hers as she pinned her to the couch. It was a forceful kiss, almost like Gabriel didn't even want to imagine what Vignette would have said next.
"Shut up. It won't happen. Ever. We'll be together," she breathed, her hands on Vignette's wrists.
"...I don't believe you," Vignette whispered angrily, avoiding the angel's gaze. "You'll do something stupid. I know it. It's not like tomorrow's going to be any easier."
"So what. We're just gonna pretend like this never happened? I'm supposed to take what I feel about you to my grave, is that it?!," Gabriel growled, holding back tears.
"No. No! No I'm not saying that at all!," she sobbed. "I...oh God..."
Gabriel suddenly felt a wave of guilt rush over her as she watched Vignette sob hunched over with her face in her hands.
"...I wanna be your girl. Vignette."
"Y-Y-You d-d-don' know how much I...I...I ..."
Gabriel stroked Vignette's hair as she bawled her eyes out, arms wrapped around Gabriel's waist.
"Shhshhhshh...it's okay...just breathe."
"...how much I...f-f-fantasize about u-us...without this war...w-we could be m-m-married..."
"We can still get married Vign."
"B-But you could...could...I could lose you...why-d you think I gave you the gun...?!"
"That's true I guess. Man, do you ever just enjoy the moment? While I'm still here?"
As expected, Vignette began to wail even louder at Gabriel's cruel joke.
"Sorry! I'm just joking...!-"
"W-W-Why w-w-would y-y-ou even say that?! Y-Y-You're...so...mean..."
"Listen. I won't die. You won't die. We have something to fight for. We'll be married. Properly. And...and...and we can have that...weird picnic dream. But in real life."
Vignette blew on a tissue. "T-That sounds good...but it's not enough. Bullets don't care about our dreams."
"Then fight with me. Either we both make it out alive...or...we'll go holding each other in our arms."
Raphiel watched from an ajar door, as Vignette wiped the tears from her eyes and happily resumed making out with her lover, savouring every touch, every sound and every smell, engraving it in her mind just in case.
